All right, all right, I'll go. Just stop haunting me! In New
Orleans, aviculturists wearing crane costumes round up an endangered
Mississippi sandhill crane before transporting it and its fellow cranes
to the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge in Gautier.

Put the biscuit in the basket, please: Sixty-two-year-old Maria
Garcia gives her dog a look at her "home" in Medellin, Colombia. She and
her husband have resided in the city sewer for more than 20 years.
Their living space is 10 feet long by 7 feet wide by 4.5 feet high.

Bitter end to her business: Ruth Nicolaci hugs her son,
firefighter Lt. G. Bourne Knowles, after he battled the fire that
destroyed the landscaping business that Nicolaci and Knowles' father
started in Fairhaven, Mass.

Photo: Peter Pereira, Associated Press

Bitter end to her business: Ruth Nicolaci hugs her son,...

Bitter end to her business: Ruth Nicolaci hugs her son,... Photo-3853797.54110 - SFGate

Image 6 of 25

Do my back? Japanese macaques relax in a natural hot-spring bath, or onsen, at the Jigokudani (Hell's Valley) Monkey Park in Yamanouchi, Japan

Put 'er in reverse. Good boy! A cross-breed rescue dog is taught
to drive at the Auckland (New Zealand) SPCA in a publicity stunt to show
that even unwanted mutts are capable of performing complex stunts.

A riot cop looks like he's counting to 10 as an activist sticks a
flower in his face at a demonstration marking International Human
Rights Day in Asuncion, Paraguay. The demonstrators were protesting the
treatment of prisoners and witnesses involved in "the Massacre of
Curuguaty," a violent land eviction on June 15 that left 11 peasants and
six police officers dead.

Photo: Jorge Saenz, Associated Press

A riot cop looks like he's counting to 10 as an activist sticks a...

A riot cop looks like he's counting to 10 as an activist... Photo-3877423.54110 - SFGate

Image 12 of 25

Elephants wade into the river for an early morning bath at Thailand's Anantara Golden Triangle resort.

Photo: Paula Bronstein, Getty Images

Elephants wade into the river for an early morning bath at...

Elephants wade into the river for an early morning bath at... Photo-3871844.54110 - SFGate

Image 13 of 25

Best of shoe: A bundled bowwow makes friends with a couple of furry "dogs" of the après-ski variety in Scheeberg, Germany.

Photo: Hendrik Schmidt, AFP/Getty Images

Best of shoe: A bundled bowwow makes friends with a couple of furry...

Best of shoe: A bundled bowwow makes friends with a couple of... Photo-3871182.54110 - SFGate

Image 14 of 25

Box o' meat, perhaps? Lucifer shakes his gift to see if he can guess what it is. (London Zoo.)

And speaking of powdered noses … The Berlin Zoo must be having a white elephant sale.

Photo: Tim Brakemeier, AFP/Getty Images

And speaking of powdered noses … The Berlin Zoo must be having a...

And speaking of powdered noses … The Berlin Zoo must be having... Photo-3894952.54110 - SFGate

Image 19 of 25

I'm in no rush: For a holiday treat, Sydney's Taronga Zoo gave
its Aldabra tortoise a watermelon Christmas tree - which it should
finish any day now.

Photo: Rob Griffith, Associated Press

I'm in no rush: For a holiday treat, Sydney's Taronga Zoo gave...

I'm in no rush: For a holiday treat, Sydney's Taronga... Photo-3894524.54110 - SFGate

Image 20 of 25

The only light left on: A portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung glows from a single spotlight as dusk descends upon Pyongyang.

Photo: Ng Han Guan, Associated Press

The only light left on: A portrait of late North Korean leader Kim...

The only light left on: A portrait of late North Korean leader... Photo-3894567.54110 - SFGate

Image 21 of 25

Actually I was looking for a photo ID, but OK: Santa lets
6-year-old Keton Sullivan tug on his beard after the boy asked if he was
the real Santa during the LaPorte County Sheriff's Children's Christmas
Show in LaPorte, Ind.

Photo: Bob Wellinski, Associated Press

Actually I was looking for a photo ID, but OK: Santa lets...

Actually I was looking for a photo ID, but OK: Santa lets... Photo-3906447.54110 - SFGate

Image 22 of 25

Think I'll fit in his lap? Diva the Great Dane sniffs Savannah
the not-so great terrier before they meet Santa at a Christmas Pet
Photos event in LaPorte, Ind.